A group of people linked with bigwigs in the immediate past ruling party is engaged in the illegal work for the last four years, sources said.

The ongoing sand lifting will soon threaten the Lalon Shah Bridge, they claimed. The sand lifting continues despite protests by local people and environmentalists.

Railway officials in Paksey said they urged the authorities to take steps to stop the illegal sand lifting, but to no effect.

"We urged Ishwardi Upazilla Nirbahi Officer, police superintendents of Pabna and Kushtia several times to stop sand lifting from (Padma) river beds at strategic points near railway installations and bridges but it all went unheeded", Regional Manager Md. Amjad Hossain of Bangladesh Railway told this correspondent over phone on Saturday.

Written complaints were also submitted to Ishwardi Upazilla Nirbahi Office, he added.

Talking to this correspondent, some local people alleged that a syndicate led by an influential local BNP leader is engaged in sand lifting from the river bed in Jhawdia, Diar Ruppur, Bamongram and Shara areas, only two to five kilometers from the Paksey Hardinge Bridge.

The river bank has collapsed at several points in the area due to indiscriminate sand lifting, they claimed.

Every day, traders engaged by the syndicate are lifting over 4,000 feet sand from river beds by tractors, trucks and the boats. Over 200 mechanised boats also carry sand to different areas of the Pabna and adjoining districts.

Dredgers are also used to lift sand, they said.

They said cracks have appeared on the railway guide dump at some points and it will be vulnerable during flood.

Md. Nazir Uddin, a contractor lifting said they took permission from the mineral resources ministry in 2003.

When contacted, Paksey UNO Abu Bakr Siddique said he received an application from railway officials and sent it to higher authorities for action.